Secondly, is it categorized in the Torah under the chaya called zemer, or is it one of the other chayot (or possibly a behema)?

(@DoubleAA's suggestion: the Halachic application of this difference would be regarding chelev and kisui haddam: if we can classify this a chaya, its chelev would be permissable for consumption and we would not be commanded to cover its blood. If it is a behema, its chelev would be forbidden under penalty of lashes. If we remain unsure, we would be forbidden from eating its chelev (although we would be unable to punish one for doing so) and we would cover its blood without reciting a blessing (Rambam Ma'achalot Asurot 1:9).)

@Adam: depends who you ask. Some posekim understand Shach (Yoreh De'ah 80:1) to be saying that we need a mesorah for animals just as we do for birds; others explain him as just saying that we need a mesorah to distinguish between kosher domesticated vs. wild animals (which has implications as far as eating their cheilev). See DoubleAA's answer, particularly his third link.
–
AlexFeb 26 '12 at 3:17

3 Answers
3

The zemer, listed among the ten types of kosher animals in Deuteronomy (14:5), is identified as the giraffe by Rav Saadia Gaon, Rabbenu Yona, Radak, the Septuagint, and many others.

According to here, land animals without a tradition of their kashrut cannot be ruled as kosher according to the Chazon Ish, but can be according to the majority opinion including Shevet Halevi 10:114 and Rav Isaac haLevi Herzog (to quote some recent opinions on both sides). Additionally, he explains that animals with straight horns are in doubt if they are domesticated or not. Okapi have short straight horns.

To the best of my understanding, it chews its cud and has split hooves, but we have no particular tradition about the okapi.

The Chochmas Adam says we need a tradition to determine whether a kosher mammal is a chaya ("wild", and thus the visceral fats are permitted) or beheima ("domesticated", and thus there is no need to cover its blood after slaughter). As we have no tradition on okapis, we would be strict both ways. (This means they'd have to painstakingly pick through the visceral fats, or do like cattle and just sell off the back half of the okapi -- making it even less cost-effective.)

It's debated by later authorities whether we need a tradition to eat a kosher mammal altogether, or just to determine its chaya/ beheima status. (The wording of the Chochmas Adam is open to interpretation.) Rabbi Hershel Schachter is inclined towards the latter, more lenient view.

I don't know much about the animal. Coming from the family Giraffidae, it does have a ruminant stomach and chews its cud, as well as having cloven hooves, as giraffes do.

Everyone agrees that the giraffe, when shechted properly, is kosher, but the long neck prevents us from shechting it in a way that the animal would not feel pain before its conscious blacks out from the blood rushing away from the brain. The okapi has a much shorter neck, so this is probably a question for a very experienced shochet, which I am not.

Also, they are endangered, and it is illegal in most countries to kill them for food, so until they are removed from the endangered and threatened species lists, dina d'malchusa dina prevents us from doing any more research into the possible kashrus of these animals.

Kosher giraffe meat has been prepared before, even recently for a special event in Jerusalem, exploring exotic kosher foods. It is extremely rare, for legal, monetary, and logistical reasons, but the long neck doesn't automatically disqualify it from kosher slaughter.
–
user1095Feb 26 '12 at 3:03

ari5av, welcome to the site, and thanks for your answer. I hope you stick around and enjoy the site.
–
msh210♦Feb 26 '12 at 8:28